Unilever – Global Employee Share Plan

The challenge

To deliver a global reward communication strategy for Unilever’s brand-new global employee share plan, ‘SHARES’, to more than 125,000 employees across 104 countries and more than 50 languages.

To capture the interest of 60,000+ “blue collar” factory and field workers

Reach a diverse audience with varying levels of online access

Engage people that are unfamiliar with making investments or equity

Varying budgets and capabilities across locations

Tight time frame – 12 months to launch 104 countries

Solutions

Communication Toolkit

Step-by-step guide for country teams to follow, including a menu of campaign materials and key information

Campaign calendar

For all HR and Communication teams to follow leading up to and during the SHARES enrolment window

Campaign website

The go-to hub for all SHARES information

The responsive site was translated into 13 key languages – the most widely spoken across the Group – with tailored content for every country

A video of CEO Paul Polman

Talking about how the plan linked to Unilever’s overall business strategy and objectives

Animated SHARES video

Visually explaining how SHARES works and how to enrol. Particularly, helpful for non-English speaking employees

SHARES Tax Video

To raise awareness that employees may have new tax obligations as a result of owning shares, as well as, how to access country tax guides in their language

Results

Prior to SHARES, Unilever equity plans were offered to roughly 3,000 executives, representing less than 2% of total employees

Now with SHARES, 128,000 employees have the chance to become shareholders and share in Unilever’s future

The campaign has received a round of award wins at the Global Equity Organisation (GEO) for our work on SHARES; beating world-class brands to the post for the highly prestigious ‘Best Plan Communication’ and ‘Best Use of a Share Plan in an Emerging Market’